Friends, Phantom, and Flowers

What a great St. Patrick's Day and continuation of my birthday celebration! Tonight I went with my mom and room mate, Amanda, to Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen for crawfish. Other friends from church joined us in eating the delicious mud bugs. Thanks for coming out tonoght James, Christy, Rhisa, Danny, Stephanie, Jenna, Brandon, Jason P., Brad, Brian, Ashley, Carston, and Jason W. To all of you that could not make it, you missed out on good company and good food.

After enjoying some crawfish my mom, Amanda, and I went downtown to the Denver Center for Performing Arts to see The Phantom of the Opera. It was amazing! Definately a show I want to see again live.

Lastly, I want to say that I love getting fresh flowers. My mom got my a small pot of Daffodils (my birth flower) last week. Then today I received a floral arrangement of White Tulips and Bells of Ireland from my older brother, John. And at dinner Stephanie brought me a bouquet of blue dyed Daisies. All of the flowers are beautiful. Thank you so much.

The flowers from Mom

The flowers from John

The flowers from Stephanie

For My Birthday

Some time ago I got the idea that I would like to go up to Lookout Mountain above Golden, CO, for my birthday to watch the sunrise. Part of this idea came from a friend's blog post last year about watching the sunrise and I want to say thank you to her (I hope you know who you are).

I was originally planning on going up by myself to just enjoy the peace and quiet and the great view that Lookout Mountain offers, but then I wouldn't have been able to get a picture like this. My mom ended up going with me to enjoy the spectacular beauty that is a sunrise over the plains of Colorado. Thanks Mom!

I must say I was amazed at how quickly the sun comes up over the horizon. Even though I am not a morning person it was worth getting up early. What a great way to begin celebrating the day I was born and at an age where I can remember it and appreciate it that much more. I would recommend to anyone to take advantage of an opportunity like this sometime during your life. We spend so much time running around that every once in a while it is refreshing to take a step back, slow down, and enjoy a sunrise (especially from a mountain view).

Reminiscing

Today was one of those days where I found myself thinking back over the years and remembering how long ago something was or what I was doing this time of year in past years. Part of this was because one year ago today my grandfather, John Mayhoffer, the only grandfather I knew, passed away. We all knew he was not going to be around much longer, but we still didn't expect him to pass when he did. I remember that I had already talk to my mom that day for quite a while and I had gone to work at the library and attended my last Cataloging class for the quarter. My family was already planning on coming to visit the following week and I was looking forward to seeing them. But when I was sitting in class working on the last assignment with Amanda (this was before we were room mates) and I saw that my mom was calling me I knew something was strange. Mom normally doesn't call me when we've already had a long chat that day, so I decided to answer (I wasn't interrupting class). I told her I was in my last class for the quarter and she said she would tell me whatever it was later because she didn't want to upset me. I told her she had to tell me after a statement like that and she proceeded to tell me that Grandpa had died. I was shocked, didn't know what to do, didn't know what to say. I got off the phone with Mom and told Amanda what was going on. She said I should leave to talk to my family and take care of family stuff. I told the instructor what had happened and she also told me to leave class, so I did. I called Grandma to make sure she was okay. I called Katie to find out what we should do. There are still times I can't believe Grandpa is gone even though we went to his grave site today to put flowers. It does help knowing he is in a better place and can continue learning without the frustration of forgetting.

Another time I have been looking back on, although not as much, was around this time two years ago. That was when I came to Denver to be interviewed for admission into the Master's of Library and Information Science program at the University of Denver. And now, here I am with only three months left until graduation. It really is crazy how much things can change in two years, even though the time seems to pass slowly every now and then. I had no way of really knowing if I'd be accepted into the program back then and now I'm almost done. Who knows what the next two years will hold for me...

The last thing I want to mention is the event called Time Out for Women. It is once again here in Denver and Katie and I are once again attending. The last time it was in Denver was October of 2007 when I was still fairly new to the Denver area and Katie was pregnant with William. I think the last time I was kind of disappointed in the event because I was expecting something different. Now I have a better idea of what to expect and how this event works and I have thus far been able to enjoy it more. I really enjoy getting to spend this time with my big sister and realizing that even though we have really different lives right now we still have things in common and need each others help to make it through the good times and the bad.

Stressed

Those of you who have been around me lately, especially today, might have noticed how stressed out I am. Today was the worst yet. I woke up with a headache most likely thanks to the fact that I was still thinking about school stuff when I turned off my light to go to sleep. Despite not feeling good I still went to church where I felt like a nervous wreck and continued to think about school stuff. I will even admit to writing my practicum experience goals during sacrament meeting because I really should have gotten them done weeks ago. I am facing the fact that I only have 2 weeks left in the quarter and still have lots of work to do on my final assignments. I am also facing having to take the comprehensive exam in a month and should study some before hand. I am trying to keep up with job applications as opportunities open up and also not worry so much about where I will end up once it is all said and done. I also have to think about both my current jobs and church responsibilities while remembering everything that I have already made plans to do. I keep thinking that I should plan on helping to clean the church on Saturday but then remember that I have plans to go to Time Out for Women with my sister, Katie. I guess it's a good thing we made these plans 2 months ago because we could both use the Time Out.

Well, through all of this insanity I have at least come to appreciate the fact that stressed is desserts spelled backwards... and boy do I love some good desserts!

Note: If you're wondering about the pie picture it is in honor of Pi(e) Day this month on March 14 or 3.14, the approximate value of the irrational number Pi. :-)

Still counting down

Well, folks, in case you were wondering if I'm still counting down the days I have left until graduation this post is to let you know that I am. Today marks 100 days until I graduate with a Master's in Library and Information Science from the University of Denver. I'm trying to keep up with my school work as well as my current jobs while searching and applying for various full-time library job opportunities. I'm hoping I can stay in the Denver area because I really don't want to have to move again (every summer for 3 years so far).

The graduation bug has also really hit my room mate. She's itching to go on a trip towards the end of May and I wouldn't mind going too. She's emailing me the results of trip searches to places like Washington, D.C. and Ireland! I only hesitate because of my sense of responsibility. Maybe I should be irresponsible just this once and plan an awesome trip with Amanda. Decisions, decisions. While I think about my options I'll keep counting down.